Spacecraft names

[whatisthisidonteven]

My SPH is uninteresting and only contains about 3 crafts - I don't like spaceplanes very much.

[Nikolai]

I generally go with categories for broad categories of design, and which category I go with depends on my mood. Incremental changes might see a Roman numeral and maybe even a letter after that (e.g., Morticia II-.

The first series saw a bunch of spacecraft named for writing utensils (Crayola, Sharpie, Bic, Prismacolor). Then I moved on to mythological beasts (Chimera, Phoenix, Gryphon, Sphinx). Stars were in there somewhere (Rigel, Altair, Polaris, Procyon), as were constellations (Aquarius, Orion, Aries, Carina) and sidekicks (Garfunkel, Gromit, Willow, Smithers, Sancho, Hermione, Norton, Watson, Chewie... that scheme lasted me a while).

There have been a bunch of them. I don't remember all the categories, sadly. Right now, they're sitcom characters (Vera, Barney, Ethel, Ralph, Cosmo, Louie, Edith, Ignatowski, Phoebe, Alex, Max, Darryl#1, Darryl#2, Beavis, Urkel, Squiggy, Felix, Gomer, Mork, Schultz, Morticia) because I have an almighty number of tests to run to make the constellation of Jool-orbiting craft that I want to design.

[jonathan_92]

Mine are generally pop-culture references with roman numerals after their names. My current manned space craft series are a refernce to Cowboy Bebop. The "Spiegel Mk I-III", and are designed to go to Duna for example. (since spike spiegel was from mars) I might name my eve craft "Faye" with corresponding model numbers, since Eve is the femme fatal of the Kerbol system imo. The goal is to eventually create a ship that can land anywhere and do a wide variety of tasks, probably named "Bebop". Tried for a while to create a Swordfish II style spaceplane but so far I can't get the damned thing to fly stright. Lol, I am SUCH a nerd! My probes are a reference to Star Trek with the Class I-III and so on probes. Each one has different capabilities, orbiting other worlds, landing, returning, etc. Gawd I am a nerd...

[Sherlock21st]

What you need is to come up with a noun that reminds you of your craft.

For example, you design a spaceplane that can break Mach 2 at sea level. Call it Falcon.

[Tigrou]

My rockets are all named "Satoorn", inspired of course by Saturn ones. This sounds like "ça tourne", which should mean in french "it rocks, it rolls".

They are Satoorn Is, for single-place capsules, only used for exploration and improve interplanetary trajectories. And Satoorn IIIs for three-men capsules. Considering my perpetual challenge to only land those big capsules on planets and satellites.

Then, there are all divided on different purposes : X for exploration, M for Munar landing abilities, R for RCS Rendez-Vous and Rescue.

Then, I'm actually working on Satoorn III Type I, able to land on Ike (and any other satellites) and go back.

[Tech_Spec]

Titan- My large 3 kerbal exploratory orbiter.

Armstrong- My munar/minmus lander

Eco 1- The smallest craft I could build to get into orbit with tones of fuel. Used for testing orbital manoeuvres.

Rover 1- A stock-built rover. Abandoned because the bloody thing wouldn't go in a straight line

[Moach]

Advent

Gallivant

Vagallux (roughy means "firefly")

Firefly

EonStar

Epoch

Fairlane

EonSprite

Galefax

Dawn

Morroway

Altavia (means "high path")

Streamcaster

Flux

Confluence

Fulcrum

Maxiom

Saga

Prudence

Serendipity (means "the trait or ability to discover upon a fortunate accident")

Chance

Fortuity

Providence

Surmise

Prophecy

Magnitude

Elicit

Consequence

Vagary

Inkling

Pointer

Freeborne

EonLight

Evenlane

Idealogue

Integrity

Intellection

Scourer

Squire

Auspex

Cynosure

Precept

Edifier

more may follow

Edited October 3, 2012 by Moach

[MaverickSawyer]

My first Ion powered manned craft will likely be named "Ion Tiger".

A lander that delivers a Crew Tank to Duna will be named "Beagle".

A planned design for a Duna-rated Lander will be given the uninspired name of "Duna Lander".

More to come soon.

[Schweehog]

I use names from randoms things like Hydra or Foxtrot (that was my first). But A large amount of the time I use element names. Xenon, Argon, Radon, and other names. My first rocket that was a success and was used multiple times was the Gamma I believe. I'm currently on the Hydra, it just got me to a polar orbit around Jool.

[Lord Strange]

My craft are sorted by classes, and then each explosion evolution adds a number to the next mission.

Spaceplanes are birds, including mythological ones, and names try to match the characteristics - so "Swallow" for small, up to "Roc" for huge and unwieldy.

Orbital craft are named after the Greek Minor deities, e.g. "Hecate", "Iris" (My comm sat launchers were named after the Muses).

Craft for travel beyond LKO are named after the Greek Gods linked with the Earth-analogue of the intended destination.

Probes are named after Earth explorers, and the command modules after Mythological creatures "Centaur" or "Chimera"

[angeldust]

My try at designing a rocket that could make it to Duna (and possibly back) was disastrous at first, but the name was cool... I called it Dunoredan ( I & II)

[SunJumper]

Names from my demo version:

Beyond Infinity

Derpmas

Farlander 88

Hermes

Jebbard

Lamkangor

Megamunmas

Muncraft

Nitromissile

Ruggedus

Saturn

Solon

Space Kraken

They Hatin'

Tractor

[Bluekommeh]

When I first saw KSP on Robbaz's channel, I named all my craft like he did...so I probably shouldn't share them here.

However, I recently started naming mine seriously, here are my favorite craft.

Zion - My unmanned Duna ships

Pleathoria - Orbital fuel stations

Praetoria - Orbital Stations

Achilles - Shuttle craft

Zunnkraft - Ultra long-ranged craft

Austerous - Manned Duna ships

Bellum - Small aerial craft

Cascade - Orbital Stations

Marianis - Small interplanetary ships

Darius - Large shuttle craft

Xerxes - Ultra-huge orbital stations

The Zion series is my favorite.

Edited October 5, 2012 by Bluekommeh

[Astronomer]

The Nagger Launcher

[Scenter102]

I like Hannibal or Scipio.

[csman77]

The Nagger Launcher

Hahahaha

Ten

[kacperrutka26]

Don't ask

-kurtjmac

LOL best name for a aircraft/Spacecraft

[unWinged]

I started with mothological names (Deadalus, Icarus and Sisifus) but then settled with alphanumerical codes that describe ship itself, sometimes I give special names to ships on cetain missions.

[Salacain5]

Infinity

vela

nova

[Piggius_Max]

Just grab some latin/greek/Roman names/adjectives/gods and chuck them in a post, there must be thousands;

HyperíÅÂn, Daedalus, Vulcan, Terminus, Madeon, Decimus... The list is huge!

Just go here: http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/ancient-roman

or here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures

[Makolu]

My favorite one I have come up with so far is "The Void Inquisitor"

I like

[Galactic Nexus]

Recently (since about .16) I've begun to name my series of launch craft after colours.

Cerulean

Viridian

Goldenrod

Fuschia

Crimson

That's all I can think of now, but you get the idea. Right now, my most successful and versatile craft have been the Cerulean and Viridian families. Viridian being the craft that put my first ship in orbit around a celestial body beyond the Kerbin system and Cerulean being the heavier lifter that carried a lander there.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Galactic Nexus

[AlternNocturn]

I've decided on a rather complex but still relatively easy naming convention for my vehicles. Model number -> Name -> Iteration.

Model number will start with a two letter abbreviation of the vehicle's purpose:

OR for rockets capable of LKO [like orbital capsules or satellites]

ER for Minmus/Mun capable rockets

IR for interplanetary capable rockets

SS for spaceplanes

SP for regular planes

For rockets, append an M for manned missions.

...followed by a number. For planes, the number will be the number of control surfaces, crew, and engines added together. For rockets, the number of engines and boosters combined in the first stage, and if manned, add the crew capacity as well.

For planes, the name will be based on historically real and mythical weapons and armor pieces:

katana

labrys

polegonne

aegis

tarnhelm

mjolnir

and volumes more

...and for rockets, names of Earth countries:

England

Scotland

Switzerland

Denmark

etc.

("America" is not a country, and North America and United States don't really fit for a vehicle)

An SSTO spaceplane could be named the SS-011 Labrys II. SS for spaceplane, 011 for 7 control surfaces (2 ailerons, 2 canards, 2 elevators and a rudder), one pilot, and 3 engines (two atmospheric and one aerospike), then Labrys, and II because it's the second iteration/generation.

For a rocket with an unmanned payload (i.e. mapping satellite) destined for LKO, we could have OR-005 Cyprus. OR = orbital, 5 engines in launch stage. Forego the iteration number for first generation models.

We can even combine the two types of vehicle. For shuttles, just combine the type of rocket with SS for space plane, add the numbers of the plane with the numbers of the rocket, and name it after the main vehicle. For a shuttle just like the real life ones, M-SSOR-017 Mjolnir. M for manned (since technically it's still a rocket), then SS comes before OR because the plane is the main vehicle, then OR for orbital, 017 because we have 5 engines (3 main, two OMS) and two boosters on the first stage, 3 main control surfaces (2 ailerons, 1 rudder), and a maximum crew capacity of 7.

Take it one step further, an interplanetary atmospheric plane, like the one I launched to Jool's moon, Laythe. M-SPIR-018 Aegis. 9 engines on the launch stage, 2 engines on the plane, 6 control surfaces (2 ailerons, 2 canards, 2 rudders), one pilot.

For a manned vehicle based on the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule that has four winglets attached, M-OR-016 Canada, a 7 man LKO capsule with 9 engines in the first stage. Don't add # of control surfaces.

What about an Apollo-style mission with a vehicle based on the Saturn V? M-ER-008 Germany. Simple.

EDIT: On multiple occasions, I've built an SSTO version of a normal plane. When this happens, simply change the model number, keep the name and append a "II" after the name. So if there was a SP-006 Polegonne, changing it around to support an aerospike engine, more wing surface and additional control surfaces would bring it to something like SS-009 Polegonne II

I haven't actually begun using this naming convention because I can't test designs without restarting the game every other launch since it crashes so frequently. That gets annoying. So I'll just have to record it here until 0.17.1 fixes the issue.

Edited October 8, 2012 by AlternNocturn

[leumas_eloc]

"The Made in China". That's probably the most Kerbal name one could think up

[valkireace]

Zeus, that's all I got.